


des poussières de toi

by LtTanyaBoone



Category: Cardinal (TV 2017)
Genre: Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Minor Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-24
Updated: 2018-04-24
Packaged: 2019-04-27 08:51:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14421837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LtTanyaBoone/pseuds/LtTanyaBoone
Summary: McLeod: Dyson recommended you for NIS training, didn't she? I've been here six years. You've been here what? Why'd she pick you?Delorme: I'm sleeping with her.- S02E01 'Red'





	des poussières de toi

**Author's Note:**

> Serious **content warning for biphobia** for this. There's a scene where Lise gets hazed in a tasteless fashion. If you're in a bad place, maybe skip this one. (The paragraph in question starts with "You're disgusting", if you still want to read this and merely skip that scene.)
> 
> This also features the death of a minor character of the show. Nothing graphic, but there's a scene that takes place at their funeral. If that sort of thing bothers you, please proceed with caution.
> 
> Book!Lise can be interpreted as bisexual, and thanks to TV!Lise's quip about sleeping with her female DS, I've decided that bisexual Lise Delorme is canon.

She's, tense. Lise watches as Dyson crosses her arms and slowly paces the room. She reaches up and touches her forehead, the cut on it burning when she carefully touches the skin around it. It makes her wince and she lets her hand fall away again.

"What were you thinking?"

Lise tries to shrug, but her shoulder screams out at her in pain and she lets out a hiss as she cradles her left arm against her protectively.

"I was reacting, actually," she replies.

"Suspect pulls a gun on you, and you think tackling them to the ground is the way to respond to it?" Dyson presses.

Lise swallows and looks away.

"He didn't pull it on me," she tries. It's a weak excuse. The guy had pointed the gun at John, not her. He hadn't even seen her, Lise had been approaching him from behind. She'd seen John's reaction. Seen him stand there, with his hands up, calmly talking to the guy. And then his eyes had widened, something had changed, and Lise had just, lunged at the guy. Maybe not one of her smartest moves ever, but it had managed to knock the gun from him. Sure, there's been a shot, but that had gone wide, and really, all the entire thing had caused was for Lise to smash her shoulder a bit. Oh, and get a gun bashed against her forehead. Yeah, that hadn't been a good experience, but it has been worth it.

Dyson gives her a look and Lise deflates a little.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes. "It was, reckless."

"Yes, it was," Dyson shakes her head. She opens her mouth to say something else, but the door to the exam room opens and then there's finally a doctor there, to look at her shoulder, and their conversation ends just like that.

 

* * *

 

Press conferences are, bad. She used to like them, back in Financial. When they held them, it was because they had good things to share. Frauds exposed, bad people arrested, that sort of thing. In CIS, press conferences seem to be more about, damage control. And Lise is beginning to hate them.

"Thought you could use one," she says as she steps into Dyson's office and sets down a mug of coffee on her desk. The other woman looks over from her computer. Blinks, in surprise, and then smiles briefly at Lise.

"Thank you," she mutters and reaches out to take the mug. Smells the coffee briefly and closes her eyes with a humm of appreciation.

Lise hesitates. Wonders, if she should be saying something. About the press conference. About this case. About anything that might cheer up the DS.

"I should get back," she says instead. Motions towards the squad room. Dyson, having taken a sip of her coffee, swallows, then nods.

"Yes," she answers, her voice soft. Lise stands there, for a second, feeling awkward, before she nods and then turns on her heel, and leaves the office of her DS.

 

* * *

 

"So," Dyson starts after the elevator doors have closed. "I heard you were sleeping with me?"

Lise whirls around and stares at the other woman, completely mortified.

"What?" she squeaks, heat rising to her face. Dyson turns her head to glare at her, for a moment, and Lise has never wishes for an elevator floor to suddenly drop out from beneath her before, but she does know. As horrible a death as that may be, she thinks she'd actually prefer it to this.

And then she sees Dyson's lips quirk up in a smile and the other woman lets out a soft laugh as she shakes her head, and Lise just stares, because she has no idea what's happening.

"Piece of advice," Dyson says, and amused lilt to her voice, "don't go around telling McLeod stuff like that. Even when it's a joke."

Lise swallows thickly and inclines her head.

"Noted," she breathes. Closes her eyes for a second, to gather her wits. "I am, sorry. For making that remark. I didn't mean to be, disrespectful-"

"Lise," Dyson says and Lise swallows at the sound of her given name. "I know how he can be. Don't let him get to you. You deserve NIS. And I can say that objectively, because we are not sleeping with each other."

She should probably say something, but Lise has no idea what that would be. What would be appropriate to say to your boss, after they've told you they know you made a joke about the two of you shagging. Oh God, this is absolutely mortifying.

So she just nods, rather stupidly, and then turns her head as the elevator doors open and Dyson steps out.

 

* * *

 

She's drunk. She definitely is. Has left the point of 'pleasantly buzzed' well behind and is on her way straight to 'absolutely smashed'.

Lise signals to the bartender and watches as he places another tequila shot in front of her.

"Maybe this should be your last," he cautions. She gives him a look, but when he merely raises an eyebrow at her, she sighs and deflates.

"Maybe," she allows and takes the glass, tossing the shot back. The alcohol burns in her throat and she shakes her head, biting back a cough.

"Keys, detective?" the bartender inquires and Lise rolls her eyes at him.

"I'm not that stupid," she informs him. Gets out her wallet to pay for her drinks, and looks up in surprise when a glass of water is placed down in front of her.

"Have that, while you wait for the cab," the bartender says and then disappears to take care fo his other customers.

Lise sighs and rubs her hand over her face. At least she had the sense not to get drunk in Algonquin Bay. Last thing she needs is for someone she knows to cross her path when she's had a few.

Josh and her used to come here, sometimes. It's a nice bar, with a friendly enough bartender. Josh hadn't been that much of a fan, which is the only reason Lise still feels comfortable coming her. Her chances of running to her ex-husband are slim to none.

"Need a bucket for the ride?" the bartender asks her teasingly, and Lise lifts her hands away from her face.

"No," she says and rests her head against her hand. "Whatever happened to your waitress?" she asks, remembering a cute little blonde that used to work here on Friday nights.

"Fired her," the guy shrugs. "Wouldn't quit to go to college, so I gave her an incentive," he grins and Lise lets out a chuckle.

"I think that's your ride," he nods towards the window, where a cab has just pulled up. Lise lets out a sigh and blinks.

"Yeah," she mutters and pushes herself off the barstool. Least she decided to wear flats. There's no way she would be able to keep her balance in heels, as drunk as she is. Good to see that Detective Lise Delorme still has some sense left in her, after all.

She gives the driver her address and buckles herself in. He's an old guy who gives her a slightly judgemental look, but maybe she's just seeing things. She's judging herself pretty hard right now, anyway, so really, what does it matter if someone else does? The guy doesn't know her story. Nor does she know his.

Lise sighs and runs a hand through her hair as she watches the scenery fly past as they enter the highway to Algonquin Bay. Her eyes dart to the clock on the driver's dashboard, and she winces. It's midnight, she has an early morning tomorrow. It's going to take a lot of coffee, to get through that day.

Then again, Lise thinks, she's probably not the first person showing up in divorce court with a hangover. Nor will she be the last. She just hopes that Josh isn't another one of those candidates. Because that would just be absolutely pathetic.

Then again, life can be funny like that.

 

* * *

 

She stands in line behind Cardinal. Watches as the man steps forward, bows his head in silence, hands folded in front of him. When he raises his head, Lise can see his throat work as he swallows hard before donning his cap and saluting the casket, then stepping away slowly.

She draws a breath and takes the few steps to the coffin. Bows her head as she says a quick prayer before she straightens.

Part of her wants to reach out and touch the coffin. Just to make sure it's real. That this isn't some strange dream she's having.

Lise gives a slight shake of her head and puts on her cap, saluting sharply, and then stepping away herself.

This is stupid, she thinks. Her uniform itches. She's not worn it in, months. Hadn't thought she would, any time soon.

Dyson is standing off to the side, her arms crossed tightly in front of herself. Lise swallows and slowly makes her way over.

"Nice service," the older woman says when Lise comes to stand next to her. She lets out a hum of assent. It was nice, she supposes. As nice as any of these things can ever be.

"I doesn't feel real, does it?" Dyson suddenly asks. Lise casts a glance at her, before following her gaze. Looks at the large picture of Constable Fox in his dress uniform standing propped up near the podium.

"It doesn't," she replies, keeping her voice down. She keeps thinking, of the last time she spoke to Fox. He'd make a quip about something McLeod had said, and she'd laughed at it. He was good at that, making people laugh when they needed it. He was a good police officer. Yes, he messed up, but he'd always stuck around and tried to fix it. He'd been willing to put in extra hours and more work to track down a suspect, or help out if CIS needed someone to canvass an area.

"His daughter's three," Dyson says. "Can you imagine, losing your dad at that age?"

Lise slowly shakes her head and swallows, hard. She's avoided Fox's wife, his widow, and their kid. She knows she'll have to say her condolences in a bit, but... It feels like this, this is partly her fault. She'd had the idea about the warehouse, she'd been the one arguing for its search. Ultimately, Dyson had sent Fox out, yes, but she never would have done that, if not for Lise and her insistence.

And the worst thing is, they still haven't caught the asshole who did it. Lise knows it's just a matter of time, they are looking for him everywhere and he won't get away with this. But it still makes her so incredibly angry. Or maybe that's just her way, of dealing with her overwhelming grief.

"Where's Flower?" Lise asks after a few moments. "I haven't seen her since her speech."

"Outside, I think," Dyson replies, her brows furrowing slightly. "I think she needed some air."

Lise swallows and nods silently. Yes, she can understand that. If that were John, in that casket... She doesn't think she would have even been able to say anything, or even attend his funeral. He's her partner, they're so close, it's unthinkable, to lose him.

"Would you excuse me?" Dyson asks her. "I still have to," she adds and motions towards where Fox's wife, his widow, is standing with a blank expression on her face as police officers keep expressing their condolences.

"Me, too," Lise nods "I'd, like to walk with you?" she asks and sees Dyson swallow before she nods.

 

* * *

 

"How's it going?"

Lise looks up from the mug she's filling with coffee, and quickly looks back, to prevent herself from making a mess.

"It's, alright," she allows and holds out the pot to Dyson, who shakes her head no and instead grabs a mug to fill with some hot water for tea.

"You can tell me the truth," the DS tells her and Lise allows a sigh to escape her lips. She adds a splash of milk to her coffee and picks up the mug to take a sip.

"It does sound a bit like, hocus pocus," she admits. "I'm sorry," she quickly adds at Dyson's expression.

"No, it's alright," she waves her off. "I appreciate your honesty."

Lise shifts and leans against the table for a moment.

"I mean, some of it may be useful," she says. "But a lot of it... They're called, micro-expressions, because they're hard to detect. And while it's great to see them go through all these videos and replay them, it's, useless, to us. No one here has the time to watch an interview fifty times over and go through every frame to catch possible... what do they call it? Deception leakage?" she shakes her head.

It's not that she finds the science behind it stupid. On the contrary, Lise is willing to admit that the concept of universal human expressions is a fascinating one. But she relies more on instinct when talking to a witness or suspect. Sure, she can recognize now that the things she picks up on subconsciously have a name, but that's not going to help her much in her everyday work.

But at least, as far as further training goes, Dyson picked an interesting topic. The last two Lise has been to were absolute snooze fests. At least today they are having discussions, even when they can turn rather heated.

She actually thinks Cardinal rather hates one of the deception training guys. Lise agrees with him, the guy's smug attitude is rather grating, but the way he manages to rile up Cardinal just with his 'radical honesty', it is rather amusing.

"Please tell me there is coffee left," Cardinal says as he enters the break room and Lise steps aside wordlessly.

"Hello, DS," he adds as he grabs a mug begins to fill it.

"Cardinal," Dyson greets him. "I will leave you two to your seminar, then," she says and nods at Lise before she leaves.

"Huh," she murmurs, a little confused by Dyson's sudden retreat.

"What?" Cardinal looks up from his coffee, giving her a puzzled look. Lise just shakes her head.

"Nothing," she tells him. "So, ready for round two?" she asks him. "Or is it five? I am getting a bit fuzzy, on that," she grins.

"Not funny," he tells her.

"Ah, come on," Lise bumps his shoulder. Or rather, arm, because he's just too freaking tall. "It is quite amusing, to watch you get all riled up."

"Little nerd thinks he has all the answers-"

"See," she interrupts his impending rant, "I think that's where you're wrong. I don't think he thinks he know everything, or even more than us, really. I just think he knows exactly what he has to say, to get a reaction out of someone."

"Like it wasn't inappropriate to comment on your looks?"

"Oh, it definitely was," Lise shakes her head, before tilting it in amusement. "But honestly, where is the difference, in him saying it, and everyone else thinking it? At least now I know where his mind went, and I can shrug it off, have a professional conversation with him."

She takes her coffee and leaves the break room then, aware of Cardinal's eyes on her back.

 

* * *

 

"You are disgusting," Lise hisses and barely resists shoving at the constable.

"Hey, Delorme," he laughs. "Learn to take a joke, will you?"

"Something I need to be aware of?"

Dyson's voice is level, carefully controlled. Lise clenches her jaw and takes a step back from the uniformed officers, willing her blood pressure to go down.

"Nope," the guy replies, that smug grin still on his lips.

"Detective Delorme," Dyson addresses her. "You agree with that?"

She should say yes. Tell Dyson everything's peachy and let the whole thing just blow over. It's wouldn't be the first time. She's no stranger to the odd remark, a bit of hazing.

But this, this is a new low. It's perverted and disgusting and Lise so badly wants to hit that asshole. Wants to wipe the grin of his face and the floor with him.

So she holds out the balled up paper in her hand for Dyson to take. The DS raises her eyebrows and takes it, carefully unfolding the paper.

Lise chances a glance at her from the corner of her eyes. Sees Dyson's brows twitch briefly, her throat working once, before her face sets.

"Constable, you're out of line," she says, her voice dangerously low.

"Aw, come on. It's just a joke-"

"You're suspended, without pay. Go home. Think about how you ought to show the respect due your fellow officers."

"You gotta be kidding me," the cop exclaims.

Dyson moves and Lise blinks in surprise when the DS steps up to the cop and gets in his face.

"You are on very thin ice, right now. Get out of my sight, before I decide to turn a temporary suspension into a transfer," she tells him. Lise watches as the guy swallows, hard. Sees him look at her, briefly, eyes flashing with anger before he turns sharply on his heel and stalks out.

Lise feels her breath leave her in a rush. Shifts and crosses her arms.

"I'd like that back," she murmurs, gesturing at the paper still in Dyson's hand. The other woman blinks and looks down. Startles, and then folds the paper.

"I need to keep it," she tells her. "As, evidence. Grounds for his suspension."

Lise swallows thickly, suddenly wishing she'd told Dyson that everything was fine. The brief moment of satisfaction she got from watching that asshole get suspended is drowned out by the mortification of everyone in the precinct getting to see that flyer.

They took her ID picture. Blew it up in size, and put words over it, like a wanted poster. Only that this one's not looking for a suspect, but instead for someone to share her bed. Her favorite line? "Dick or not, Delorme's hot / For you"

Jesus Christ on a cracker, and she'd thought she'd left the frat boy antics well behind.

Dyson gently touches her arm and directs Lise to her office. Guides her into a chair and closes the door behind them.

"You want to have this filed under sexism, or homophobia?" she asks her and Lise lets out a soft chuckle.

"Both?" she jokes, before she gives a slight shake of her head. "Though I think you may have more pull, with sexism. He's made some remarks in that vein, before."

Dyson nods and puts the paper down as she sits. Searches Lise's face, a look in her eyes that makes her swallow and look away.

"Do you know how many of these are in circulation?" she asks, her voice gentle. Lise shakes her head no.

"I saw three and took them down. One was in the restroom, one on the bulletin board, and this was taped to my computer monitor," she gestures at the flyer on Dyson's desk. At least she doesn't have to see it anymore, though Lise is pretty sure that it will haunt her, for a while.

"I am sorry, Lise," Dyson say, her voice strangely soft. Lise swallows and inclines her head, fighting hard against the tears of humiliation burning in her eyes.

The thing is, she has no idea why this happened. Usually, when someone decides to target her, it has a reason. They think she is messing with their investigation, they have an argument about procedures, she gives them an order they don't like. But this guy, Lise barely knows his name. She hasn't worked with him in months, and she can honestly not think of anything that may have launched this particularly tasteless attack. And if it was motivated by homophobia, Lise can't think of anything she's done lately that would be disclosing her sexuality. She's not dating anyone right now, Josh and her are separated, their divorce is slowly but surely proceeding forward...

"If you want to go home, I'd understand."

She blinks, then slowly shakes her head no.

"No," she tells Dyson before she swallows. "I'm not going to let that asshole get to me," she shakes her head again.

 

* * *

 

Her eyelids flutter close and Lise lets out a soft sigh before she kisses back.

She feels Dyson's arm wrap around her, pull her closer and reaches out. Rests her hands on the other woman's hips for a moment, before she uses them to pull her closer, to pull her flush against her.

It's like time stands still. All she can think about, is how close Noelle is. How soft her lips are, how great she feels, pressed up against Lise.

And then Dyson's lips leave hers, and it's as if someone hits the volume on a previously muted TV.

The club's music assaults her ears and Lise thinks she actually winces in reaction to the sudden loud noise. Ducks her head a little as her eyes adjust again to the strobing lights.

"Good thinking," Dyson says. Shouts, really, close to Lise's ear. It makes her swallow, hard, and she can only give a mute nod in response.

Becomes aware, suddenly, that her hands are still on her DS's hips, where they definitely do not belong. So she lets them fall away. Feels Dyson's arms leave her back as the other woman lets go of her. Looks over Lise's shoulder, brows furrowing.

She'd pulled her into the alcove, yes. To duck out of the line of sight of the guy they're tailing. Lise hadn't intended to kiss the other woman for cover, so she has no clue where Dyson got that particular idea from.

That report will take her hours to write, Lise thinks already. She knows she'll be pouring over it, double checking every single word, to make sure she's not accidentally saying something completely inappropriate, in case someone misinterprets her wording.

They leave the club half an hour later. At which point Lise has managed to stop biting her bottom lip. The tingling, however, still hasn't stopped. Not since she first felt Dyson's lips on her own.

 

* * *

 

The metal corner of the paper towel dispenser's digging into her back.

Lise lets out a hiss of pain, immediately regretting it when it breaks the kiss.

"Are you alright?"

She swallows thickly and nods. Takes a small step forward and rolls her shoulders.

"Yeah," she replies, her voice soft. It's a futile attempt of not breaking this spell between them. Because Lise can see the pupils of Dyson's eyes contract a little, as her brain returns to reality.

"I'm, sorry," the older woman apologizes, her brows furrowing. She reaches up to cup Lise's cheek and Lise's eyes flutter close at the contact, she just can't help herself.

Turns her face a little to brush her lips over Dyson's palm.

Maybe it was a good thing, that hiss. Because Lise is pretty sure that they wouldn't have stopped, had she not made that sound. And as horny as she is, right now, she'd rather not have her first time with Noelle be in the precinct's bathroom. As exciting as that might be.

She reaches out and gently buttons up Dyson's blouse again. Marvels at the fact that she managed to not tear any of the small buttons off in her frantic search for skin contact moments ago.

"Hey," Noelle murmurs and Lise looks up. Meets her eyes, for a brief moment, her heart skipping a beat at it.

"I'm fine," she whispers. Finishes with the final button and gives the other woman a brief smile before she steps away from her. Unlocks the door and then steps from the restroom, hoping that no one will notice the flush on her face.

 

* * *

 

They need to stop doing this, Lise thinks.

As much as she loves kissing Noelle, it is getting harder and harder to stop herself, once they start. And it is already difficult to not start, too. Because she, she likes, this. She likes those kisses, loves the way Noelle's lips feel on hers, the way her hand cradles the back of Lise's head to keep her close. How her hands are so gentle, when they rest on Lise's hips, or slip under her shirt to caress her back.

One of these days, she won't be able to pull away. She'll keep kissing her, keep making out with her, and it'll lead to something she won't be able to take back, ever.

Not like this is something she can take back. They've done this way too many times for Lise to keep claiming it's an accident, a temporary lapse in judgment. (More like a permanent lapse in self-control.)

She's just, she'll just have to get a grip, on herself. Take a breath, pull herself up to her full height, and say no. No matter how much everything in her screams yes, yes, oh please yes when Noelle's touches her, when she so much as glances in Lise's direction.

This isn't good. This isn't healthy. It's only a matter of time before it blows up in their faces, and Lise would hate to be the thing that costs Noelle her hard-earned career.

 

* * *

 

When Eric Fraser shot her, Lise stood in the cold winter air, pressing an ice pack to her ribs as she told Dyson that nothing was broken. The other woman had searched her face and then given a curt nod, before returning her concern to the much more banged up Cardinal.

Now, Lise finds Noelle's arms wrapped around her in a tight embrace.

"I'm fine," she murmurs, allowing a wince to escape her when Noelle moves and presses against the bruises forming on her skin.

She's acutely aware of the flimsy curtain providing barely any privacy. Knows that any moment now, someone could pull it back, and see them.

It doesn't seem to stop Dyson. She only leans back a little, to be able to look into Lise's face, search her eyes.

"You, scared me," she tells her and Lise swallows, hard.

"I'm fine," is all she can say, all that will come to her mind. The same stupid words she's just said a moment ago.

Noelle swallows and gives a slight nod, her arms slowly pulling back from Lise.

The hug was painful, her ribs screaming in protest at being constricted again, after she's taken a two-by-four to them earlier. But this, this hurts even more. She almost reaches out. Almost asks her to stop pulling away. Almost tells Noelle to hold her again.

In the end, she doesn't. Just slides from the gurney and takes her jacket, ready to see the nurse about getting discharged. She doesn't want to stay here another minute, and they've given her the distinct impression that, since she was lucky and didn't break anything, they won't admit her for the night.

She thinks she feels Noelle's hand on the small of her back briefly, but maybe, she's just imagining things. It's been a long day, the painkillers are making her a bit loopy. It's not a good combination, her on painkillers with Dyson so close. Her self-control is already shot, and Lise worries about what she might end up doing, should they end up standing so close for much longer.

 

* * *

 

In her romantic moments, Lise has allowed herself to think about this. Has thought that there would be candles, and soft music, and a bed. Imagined that they'd take their time, undress each other slowly. Hoped that there would be plenty of exploring, and kisses, and giggles.

This none of that. It's Lise being pressed against the door of her hotel room. It's all hot mouths and urgent kisses. It's frantically pulling at each other's close, Lise basically yanking open Noelle's shirt to get her hands on her skin. It's Lise gasping when Noelle just reaches down her pants and touches her while kissing down her neck.

It's embarrassing, how little it takes, before Lise's orgasm hits her hard. Leaves her seeing stars beyond her screwed-shut eyes, her chest heaving as she tries to catch her breath while her forehead rests against Noelle's shoulder, Lise's fingers twisted into the material of the other woman's shirt.

When she finally manages to open her eyes again, and has the strength to lift her head up from where she's been resting it against Noelle's shoulder, she finds the other woman looking at her with a soft expression.

She has the sudden urge to thank her, for this. Opens her mouth, before she manages to reign herself in. Slowly relaxes her hands and lets go of Noelle's blouse, the circulation returning to her digits, needle pricks moving through her hands. Lise reaches up and cups her face. Runs her thumb over Noelle's bottom lip and watches, fascinated, as her eyes flutter shut in response.

It gives her the courage to lean in and kiss her again. She's not entirely sure if she imagines it, but she could swear she feels Noelle sigh into her mouth. She definitely melts against Lise, the motion pushing her back against the door again.

She reaches down and opens the front of Noelle's pants. Pops the button and pulls the zipper down slowly before she breaks the kiss. The way to the bed is way too long. Too many opportunities, for Noelle to realize that they're playing with fire, that this was a stupid idea, that this is a huge mistake that's going to bite them both in the ass eventually. So Lise just turns them around. Presses the smaller woman against the door and brushes her lips over Noelle's again briefly, before she pulls her pants down and slides to the floor with them.

It's not the first time she goes down on a woman, but it's certainly the first time she does it during a first encounter. She feels Noelle's hand on her head, tugging at her hair, and for a moment, fear seizes her. Makes her think that she doesn't want this, that Lise misread her, that she's crossed the line- but then she looks up at her, and finds Noelle's eyes screwed shut, her breath leaving her in short pants as her back arches off the door, and Lise feels a grin tug at her lips as the other woman tries to direct her motions, and she wonders, for an exhilarating moment, why they haven't done this a lot sooner.

 

* * *

 

They do eventually make it to the bed. And Lise gets the soft kisses, and touches, and the careful exploration that they skipped, at the beginning.

Maybe it was better this way. That they got the worst of it out of their system. Because Lise doesn't think she would have had as much patience for this, if she hadn't already cum twice.

She does feel a little bad, about missing one of the talks of this conference. But honestly, if she has to choose, between listening to some speaker drone on about a topic she was only mildly interested in to begin with, and spending the time in bed with Noelle instead, well, it's not a tough choice, at all.

She half-expects her to be gone in the morning. Expects to wake up to an otherwise empty bed, an empty room, no trace left behind to remind her of the events of the previous afternoon and night.

Instead, she finds, when she opens her eyes, Noelle sleeping soundly, a lock of her hair falling across her forehead. It makes her crinkle her nose and reach out to carefully brush it away. Lise is positive that she's not imagining the sigh this time, and then her eyelids flutter as she wakes up, before Noelle opens her eyes completely, and looks right into Lise's.

Her heart skips a beat. For a terrifying second, Lise thinks that this is it. They've gone and ruined everything now. There's not way back from this, no way for them to pretend like this didn't happen, and even if there were, Lise wouldn't want to.

And then Noelle's lips tug into a smile and she leans over to kiss her, gently murmuring a good morning against Lise's lips.

There are three presentations today Lise wants to hear. The first one is at half past ten, but she'll probably have to get there at least half an hour early, if she wants a decent seat. It's already pushing nine o'clock, and she'll still have to shower and get dressed and have some late breakfast. Yet she can't help herself, she kisses back the moment Noelle's lips make contact with her own.

In the end, she ends up slipping into the room five seconds before the doors close and spends the entire hour and half of that first presentation straining to see the speaker from the corner seat in the last row.

 

* * *

 

It's good wine, Lise thinks as she picks up her glass from the couch table and takes another sip.

Dinner was nice, though if she's honest, Lise didn't come over for the food. She came over for this. Came over to lie on Dyson's couch, the other woman gently running her fingers through her hair as they exchange soft kisses.

She sighs and places the glass back down, before going in for another kiss. Slips her hands under Noelle's blouse, a grin flickering across her face at the way the other woman's breath catches at the contact.

"Lise," she murmurs and Lise lets out a soft humm against Noelle's lips before she leans back. Blinks, once, twice, to clear her head a little.

Noelle's eyes are soft as she looks at her. She reaches up and touches Lise's cheek, an expression crossing her features that makes Lise's heart skip a beat.

"I..." Noelle starts, but then falters. Lise swallows, hard.

"I know," she murmurs softly. Reaches up to cover Noelle's hand with her own. "Me, too."

The older woman sighs. Deflates a little, before she leans in for another soft kiss, one that Lise is more than happy to reciprocate.

_fin._

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from 'Le vent nous portera', originally by Noir Desir, though I will admit to liking the Sophie Hunger version more. 
> 
> (It was either that, or 'Girls Like Girls' by Hayley Kiyoko ;-) )


End file.
